A bipartisan group of US lawmakers are pressing the Department of Homeland Security to release what they say are unclassified records related to the potential foreign government use of cellphone surveillance devices in the nation’s capital.

In a letter on Thursday, House Democrats urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take immediate steps to halt the suspected illegal use of phone-tracking devices widely known as “Stingrays.”

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has acknowledged for the first time that cellphone surveillance equipment may have been deployed in the nation’s capital by foreign actors seeking to track cellphone and potentially intercept calls and messages.

Acting head of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan told Sen. Ron Wyden the agency does not use cell-site simulators—a type of surveillance gear often referred to as a “Stingray” that can track down a specific mobile device by emulating cell phone towers—to locate undocumented immigrants.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has repurposed cellphone tracking technology typically used in criminal investigations to track down at least one immigrant for deportation,The Detroit News revealed last week. ICE’s controversial use of the surveillance technology has caught the eye of Senator Ron Wyden, an…

Mammals are unique in that they’re practically the only creatures that take the time to chew their food. Or at least that’s what we thought. New research shows that stingrays also use chewing motions to grind down their meal. And as this video attests, it’s pretty damned weird to watch.

While most of us eventually stop playing spies, American police departments have found it increasingly tough to grow up, using military-developed surveillance equipment for crimes as minor as 911 hangups in recent years. Sensing an opportunity, defense contractors apparently stepped in to fulfill the demand, as…

An international team of researchers has developed an eerily realistic robotic stingray that blurs the line between animal and machine. Fueled by light-activated heart cells, the cyborg fish could inspire the development of futuristic medical devices and incredibly life-like synthetic animals.

Privacy took a blow last week when the NSA got permission to keep operating a massive dragnet. Here’s some better news: As of today, federal agents should have a harder time using Stingrays to spy on cell phones.

A convict lawyer, sitting in jail, obsessed with a wacky theory that the government tracked him by sending secret rays into his house... ends up discovering a secret government cell phone tracking program. Sounds like bizarre noir, right? But it’s true.

The FBI wants to keep stealthy phone surveillance tools called Stingrays as secret as possible, for obvious reasons (to use them whenever they want with as little oversight as possible, growing tipsy on the intoxicating liquor of unfettered power). And now another reason for secrecy just came out: Using Stingrays can…

Florida police are using Stingray tracking devices—powerful surveillance tools cloaked in secrecy, capable of hoovering data from the phones of anyone in a wide search area—to catch thousands of suspects, even in low-level crimes like 911 hangups.

If you're in a public place, don't expect your phone calls and texts to stay private. At least not if the FBI flies a Cessna over your head or drives a car around your neighborhood while you're out for a walk.

In case you were psychically scarred by the now famous stingray photobomb, here's some pareidolia to soothe your mind. And now, a baby stingray from the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport Oregon set to music. Enjoy. [Via Arbroath]